Lesley Telford is based in Vancouver, Canada as choreographer and director of Inverso Productions. Her work has been described as having “a profound way of tapping into deep recesses of our emotional and intellectual landscapes”. She combines impulse-based physicality with sensitivity to the minute relationships between performers and their environment.
Lesley finished her studies in Montreal at L ́École Supérieur de Danse du Québec before joining the company Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. She went on to dance with Nacho Duato ́s Compañia Nacional de Danza in Madrid, Spain. During her decade long tenure at Netherlands Dans Theater 1 she worked with choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Crystal Pite and others and initiated her choreographic career. Lesley also has a Master of Arts in Cultural Production from the University of Salzburg and the Mozarteum.
As a choreographer she has created works for Netherlands Dans Theater 1, multiple creations for Ballet BC, Hubbard Street Dance Company 2, Compañia Nacional de Danza 2, Ballet Vorpommern, Butler Ballet, University of Utah, and Arts Umbrella Dance Company as well as many works for her own company. She founded Inverso Productions in 2012 to experiment with other art forms and ways of creating dance. Through Inverso she has produced and choreographed two full-length works: Brittle Failure, which has been a part of tours and festivals in Spain, the Netherlands and Canada and Spooky Action, which recently premiered in Canada to enthusiastic reviews. Lesley also leads initiatives for emerging dance artists through Inverso with the mission of facilitating mentorship, research and performance opportunities.
